


bittersweet

by parkerprotectionprogram



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Character Death, Death, F/M, Father Figures, Other, and a shitty ending, but i'm a sucker for pain, endgame left me a mess, i can't do fics period, i can't do fix it fics, i wrote this half asleep and very upset, there's a funeral, very very short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 07:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkerprotectionprogram/pseuds/parkerprotectionprogram
Summary: why did victory taste so much like defeat?





	bittersweet

**Author's Note:**

> a.n: hello it is 3:30 am and i have to be up at 10 yeeehaw also i watched endgame hours ago and have been listening to my missing tony stark playlist and mourning about my father so here’s a shitty fic/drabble thing i cranked out in a fit of sleeplessness and desperation 
> 
> w.c.: 480
> 
> warnings: angsty angst, endgame spoilers, death, crying i’m just really in my feels ok

The moment he finally crashes into your arms is a bittersweet one. Nothing left of Thanos but dust – perishing the same way you had watched Peter disappear. It should fill you with triumph. The sweet taste of victory after what feels like an eon of hardship and torment. Instead, you’re left with a hollow ringing in your ears and a bitter taste on your tongue that not even the boy you’d spent months agonising over,  _hoping_  and  _praying_  for his return, could heal.

His shoulders shake, knees threatening to give out as hot tears splash onto your neck. Your arms come up around him but they feel slack, eyes peering over his shoulder at the sight that has him in distress, the sight you shield him from.

Pepper Potts weeps quietly into the chest of Tony Stark, her husband’s hand slackening over her own, falling down as his body breathes out one final time before stilling.

You can’t explain the pain in your aching heart. It makes your head spin, staring into the lifeless eyes that had once held so much expression. You find yourself in disbelief, though you know deep down it’s very much real.  _He can’t be gone. He can’t._

_“I’m not leaving until you’ve finished that entire plate. Why? Because I know you haven’t eaten in over four hours.”_

_“If that’s another one of those vines so help me God, kid, the only thing you’ll be allowed to watch will be Fox News.”_

_“You’re not stupid, you just need to find a different approach.”_

_“You’re okay. You’re gonna be okay. I’ve got you.”_

You bow your head and press your face into Peter’s neck, tears springing to your eyes as the memories flash in your mind’s eye. The two of you grip each other a little tighter, fingers pressing into skin and suits.

 _I love you. Thank you for everything. You deserved better._ You wish you could tell him. You need to tell him. But all you can do is sob silently, cheeks wet and puffy, because he’s gone.

The next few days pass in a blur. You spend most of it clinging to Peter, terrified you’ll lose him too, terrified you’ll wake up to find he was only a figment of your imagination. Terrified he’ll slip through your fingers just as he’s done once before.

Peter’s hand finds yours during the funeral, knuckles white as the two of you watch the wreath of flowers float down the lake. It’s your only source of comfort, and you clutch onto it as though it were a lifeline.

“We’ll be okay,” you whisper, mostly to yourself, repeating it once and again in an effort to convince yourself of the fact.

A squeeze of your hand prompts you to turn your head to meet sorrowful brown eyes, Peter nodding as tears brim his eyes.

“We’ll be okay,” he affirms.


End file.
